While waiting for the Pre-Game to start on Thursday I allowed* DSD to watch World News Tonight. Imagine my shock and horror when Brian Williams showed the above video. While I had briefly seen a headline on one of the webpages Thursday on rioting, there was no indication where or why the rioting was occurring. There was no indication that a man had been publicly murdered on camera. This morning when I sat down to write this post I googled the man's name, Oscar Grant, and found TWO stories on this in the mainstream media. TWO! There are plenty of blogs on it, thank goodness, but not a lot of "legitimate" news sources are carrying this story.
I don't know anything about Oscar Grant. He was 22 years old and had a4 year old daughter. One story said he was a 'peacemaker' but another said he was a trouble maker. The story on World News Tongght said the BART cops had been called out because there was a fight.
I don't give a flying fatooty. This man was murdered. He was on the ground face down and was shot. It looks possible that he was struggling with the cops. So? I am certain that is not grounds for deadly force.
There has been rioting in protest of this shooting.
I don't think rioting is an answer, but I have never been faced with issues like this, so I am not judging these people. Maybe, if the cop had been fired and arrested, as I would have been, then the riots would not have happened.
The officer remains free and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. And some experts have questioned whether he fired his gun deliberately or mistakenly believed he was using his stun gun instead....
The video footage has led to debate over whether the officer knowingly shot Grant, as the victim's family alleges....
Bruce Siddle, a use-of-force expert who viewed the video clips, theorized that Mehserle was working under stress in a hostile situation and did not realize he was firing his pistol.
I don't want cops on the street if they aren't bright enough to know the difference between a stun gun, a taser and a hand gun.
Having been married to a cop who was a total prick and thought he was god's gift to the world, I have a unique perspective on law enforcement, although not an unbiased one. I know some good cops who are out there performing their duties to Protect and Serve, my EX had Southern Sheriff Syndrome, believing that he alone knew right from wrong and, BY GOD, don't question him.
Whether the shooter was confused or whether it was deliberate should not matter. Arrest him, charge him and get him off the street.
*On a lighter note, I do not allow DSD to go anything, especially with the remote. While he is very enlightened in most ways, he is a total man when it comes to the remote. Penis = control. Lucky for him, I would rather play on the computer or read a book than watch TV, so we don't fight over it...much.
1 comment:
Wow. Actually, I'm not all that surprised that this was not covered that much in the media. What I think happened is that the media received pressure from some official authority to limit their coverage. They are probably worried that extensive coverage would inflame the situation, similar to what has happened recently in Athens.
Whilst it is a sad state of affairs that news media is subject to official pressure, it is not a surprise.
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